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Home > Divisions > Transplantation > Living Donor Liver Transplant > What is the general process for finding a donor?
What is the general process for finding a donor?
Once the decision has been made that a liver transplant
is necessary, the potential recipient will have a workup
done. Assuming that no unusual problems are found during
this workup, the patient can then be placed on the waiting
list for a transplant from a cadaver donor. Then an evaluation
can proceed to determine if a suitable living donor is available.
About 50% of potential donors who come forward for testing
do not turn out to be suitable. For example, they may not
have a compatible blood type, they may have unusual vessel
formation in their livers, or they may have something slightly
abnormal with their blood. This does not mean that they
are not in excellent health. They just don't meet the strict
criteria required for such extensive surgery. Even if no
suitable living donor is found, the potential recipient
has still been on the cadaver waiting list the whole time.
If a cadaver liver would become available, even during the
evaluation of a potential donor, we would proceed with a
cadaver liver transplant. Therefore, the evaluation process
for an LDLT would not jeopardize or delay the possibility
of a cadaver transplant.
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